How Did The Articles Of Confederation Maintain The Power Of The Federal Government

With the United States gaining independence from Great Britain, Congress realized that a document of law needed to be established to maintain its newfound freedom. The Articles of Confederation devised a loose union of the states and set up a federal government with insufficient powers. Pivotal matters as defense, public finance, and trade, the federal government was in favor of the state legislatures. Twenty-one years the United States was ruled by the Articles until they adopted the U.S. Constitution in 1787. This made it so that the nation was rules by a sovereign national government, but also the states were sovereign as well. It created a federal government that allowed the new nation to function as one independent country, created a three-branch

Under Article II of the Articles of Confederation, “each state retains its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right….” As a direct result, the states had retained too much power relative to the national government. The Congress had no money and could not seem to raise any, given the requirements that all thirteen states had to agree on tax. The outcome of the individual states having the power to tax was the government did not make any money. These ascendancies had been left to the states under the Articles of Confederation, causing the national economy to fall apart. Under the articles, assembly lacked the power to charge taxes. Instead, it had to appeal to the states to give funds to the general treasury; this was never sufficient for the central government. Each state could make its own money, and not acknowledged in other states. The war left an enormous debt, but the Articles did not permit congress to collect taxes, only to solicit for cash from the states. The central administration could not control business amid the states. The Constitution designated certain powers to the federal government, such as the ability to levy and collect taxes from individuals and the power to raise an army. Under the new rule of the

The executive branch, the President, enforces national laws; the legislative branch, consisting of the two houses of Congress, makes national laws; and the judicial branch, the Supreme Court, and other federal courts applies and interprets laws when deciding legal disputes in federal court. For example, it lacked an executive branch and a system of national courts. Under the constitution of the Articles of Confederation there was no executive branch to carry out the laws. In western Massachusetts in 1786, hundreds of farmers under Captain Daniel Shays rebelled against the state government. State troops finally put down Shays Rebellion. Therefore, because there was no executive branch to carry out the laws, Shays rebellion lasted for a year. But with the new U.S constitution with an executive branch, they were able to shut down the whiskey rebellion. In 1791 by the federal government, farmers in the western counties of Pennsylvania engaged in a series of attacks on excise agents. President Washington issued a proclamation, calling out the militia and ordering the disaffected westerners to return to their homes. Washington's order mobilized an army of approximately 13,000. Washington himself, in a show of presidential authority, set out at the head of the troops to suppress the uprising. This was the first